Schools ask city for money for laptops in Gulf Shores

GULF SHORES, Alabama -- Baldwin County school board President Angie Swiger and local school principals asked the city on Monday for $988,688 to be paid over the next four years to fund the Learning for Life career academy program, which would begin next fall.

The funds would pay for:

¡¤MacBook laptops for fourth through sixth grades in Gulf Shores Elementary and for eighth grade in Gulf Shores Middle, and for some in-class laptops for seventh-graders.

¡¤The Rosetta Stone Spanish language program for grades four through six and a Spanish teacher for eighth-graders.

¡¤Two advanced placement teachers at Gulf Shores High for one year.

"We wanted to put something in place that serves more than just the high school students," Swiger said. "The career academies will reach every single child in the system."

The City Council will vote on the matter Feb. 13. The funding request is divided into four payments: $387,757 for the first year; $236,977 for the second year; and $181,977 for the third and fourth years.

The equipment would be leased for four years, and then schools would upgrade the computers, according to Swiger.

Last month the county Board of Education agreed to spend $2 million for MacBooks for all Baldwin high school students. It’s part of the county’s "Digital Renaissance" initiative, which provides laptops to students and Wi-Fi Internet access to replace textbooks.

Along with Digital Renaissance, principals at Gulf Shores schools and at Orange Beach Elementary plan to start the Career Academy, a pilot program that would allow students to focus on specific career areas.

Most of the Gulf Shores council members and Mayor Robert Craft have said they support funding the career program.

"Some may question the amount of money, but if you look at the big picture, it’s almost less than 1 percent of our annual general fund budget," said Councilman Jason Dyken. "If we can’t do that, then we need to re-evaluate our priorities." Gulf Shores’ yearly city budget is $30 million.

The city of Orange Beach has been asked to commit $550,968 over four years, according to Swiger, who has met with Mayor Tony Kennon and several council members in the last six months. "They have basically told us they are not prepared to support the programs so we don’t need to do a formal presentation," she said.

"We’ve asked them if they can’t do the full amount, can they do something less or at least pass a resolution that they support it."

Orange Beach’s share would be divided into $151,872 the first year and $133,032 for the next three years. It would pay for MacBooks for Orange Beach Elementary, 91 laptops for seventh grade, a seventh-grade Spanish program and a high school teacher for four years, she said.

"We’re all for better education and for spending money very wisely," Kennon said. "We believe more investigating needs to be done. We don’t make investments based on emotion."

Kennon said he had several questions that the schools never answered. "What is the textbook savings and where do the savings go? How does this help the graduation rate and the dropout rates? Get us objective numbers and we’ll all be glad to listen," he said.

He suggested that the local schools give the Digital Renaissance a year to develop a track record. "I want to make sure we look at the schools from a problem-solving angle instead of throwing money at it," he said.